to justify that is really deeply strange. fordecades,raisingthedebtceilingwassomething that congress has been willing to do. since the presidency of fdr, congress has to do. since fdr, congress voted to raise it literally dozens of times. the way we run the country, for generations, you may not like it. it is how we use the debt ceiling, we have raised it 89 times just between 1939 and 2010. the only time we haven't had to raise it in recent years was at the very end of the clinton administration when we started to run a budget surplus, remember that? but other than that, it happens as a matter of course. it is routine, but in 2010, the republicans decided they wouldn't do it anymore. and in the standoff, where they said they wouldn't do it again, even though it was done with presidents before them, they were not going to do it. the country could default on its debts, that was an economic disaster. check it out. this is job growth, month to month in the year 2011. during that time when it is weirdly suppressed, oh, yeah, it is the fight over the debt ceiling. so when you hear others

into this situation are now quibblingaboutraisingthedebtceilingwhenthey almost broke the country with the proposals that they offered all those years and never once did they ask president bush. not once did they deny president bush on those proposals. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: i yield one minute to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from illinois, mr. ross come. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. ross come: thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. rosk up: thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. roskum: thank you, mr. speaker. it is common sense to require people if they're getting compensation to do their job. it's been four years. it's been since rod blagojevich, the govnor of illinois, was indicted since the united states budget -- the united states senate has passed a budget. and now we have an opportunity to put pressure on the other body and that is to do their work. we don't do ourselves, we don't do our children, we don't do the taayers any favor by